The Russian Night Witches of World War II
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- In the 1930s, with the black clouds of war gathering over the skies of Europe once more, the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin pushed to demonstrate its technical prowess to the rest of the world, particularly in the air, where the Soviets established a number of endurance records for aircraft. To demonstrate how far the Soviet Union had come culturally, a number of these record-breaking efforts included female pilots and aircrew, and none were more famous than Marina Raskova. Often credited as the Soviet Union’s Amelia Earhart, Raskova was the first woman to qualify as a navigator in the Soviet Air Force in 1933 and was part of a record-breaking attempt for female aviators that saw her crew fly over 4,000 miles in a converted DB-2 long range bomber. This earned her celebrity status in the Soviet Union and crucially, influence over Stalin himself. For when war would finally break out between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Raskova would come to Stalin with a plan for women to join the men in the fight against fascist tyranny. This plan would result in one of the most famous flying units of World War II - the Night Witches.
Welcome to Wars of the World.
0:00 Introduction
1:54 The Great Patriotic War
9:59 Answering the Call of the Motherland
14:16 Baptism of Fire
17:26 The Night Witches
24:51 The End
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Narrated by: Will Earl
Written & Researched by: Tony Wilkins
Edited by: James Wade
History Should Never Be Forgotten...
In 1995 I was a Canadian working in Moscow. On May 9th I headed to the city center, with the rest of the city. The 50th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War victory was in full swing. I was lucky enough to happen upon a group of Night Witches, still beautiful and very proud in their 70's. My (now) wife was ecstatic to meet them, heroes who she grew up knowing of. When I told these heroes my father was also pilot in the war of an RCAF Spitfire, they spontaneously hugged me as if they knew and flew with my father. Awesome memory...
That's a wonderful story mate,these brave women have to be recognised and respected.
Awesome story. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing!
Maybe u can share pictures with them
Omg, what a honor to have met any of these incredibly brave and beautiful ladies. 👍👍
One could spend a lifetime studying world war 2 and still not learn it all. This is an incredible story and these women are indeed heroes.
Heroines.
David Cole ... So true so many different facets of this war I never heard of before and didn't have a clue that existed.
Coming into the story from knowing how great our factories were at being able to produce good quality war material and products at a speedy pace, unbelievable.
Not to take away from this wonderful story here.
But to come to realize how much of that war I had no idea of what's going on.
True. I've never understood the need for war fiction as there are far more amazing real stories to be told.
You know it. How about the African American artillery units / battle/bulge? Or a bear that carried munitions for a polish unit in italy?
@@johnjohnon8767 The bear story is something new 😳
There is a book titled "The Unwomanly Face of War" written by Svetlana Alexievich. It is a compilation of interviews with Soviet Female Veterans of the second world War. Fascinating listen(its on audible). Pilots, tank crews, infantry, snipers, guerilla fighters, nurses, doctors.....the list goes on. Got a bit choked up, so young and brave.
I've read it and can say, it is fascinating!
Well said. It's the best book I've ever read
Their was a elderly lady that lived in the neighborhood I grew up in. My mother told me she was raped by many German soldiers when she was a young girl in France. I also worked for a gentleman who had his concentration camp number tattooed on his forearm. I just find this so amazing but at the same time appalling. These men and women fought for our freedom and I’m am thankful every day to be free.
I've read many stories of impressive female snipers in the red army, but this is the first I'm hearing of their female pilots and tanks crews. I'll definitely have to check that book out. The strength, courage, and selflessness required to do those kinds of jobs in the midst of the most brutal war in modern human history is absolutely incredible. It's a shame that we don't see big-budget blockbusters on this topic instead of the usual female heroes from comic books.
I would love to read it one day.
The courage and sacrifice of these women should never be forgotten. They were one tough bunch of pilots.
The story of the two pilots discovering the Tiger tanks in the woods and escaping undetected and flying off to tell about it, just wow.
15% loss rate is not a bad record at all. When given their effectiveness and the equipment they had, a 15% loss is actually pretty spectacular.
Compared to the battle of Stalingrad that’s nothing.
Most effective night bomber squadron of ww2.
The Night Witches were not really effective at all, but they were useful for propaganda purposes.
@@DrCruel On ratio of payload on take off and payload delivered on target it is the case. If you want to engage in rhetoric please go ahead and humor me.
@@downundertruckie7953 Name me a battle that the Night Witches were instrumental in winning. Name me an operation where the crucial factor was dropping grenades out of biplanes at night.
If you don't know what you're talking about, don't blame me.
My respect and gratitude to these women. Thank you for sharing their accomplishments and sacrifices .
LOL so they and millions more could live under Stalins boot for decades.
@@BUSTER.BRATAMUS That's true...however...at that time in human history it was TREMENDOUSLY important that Hitler's Nazis , and Imperial Japan , and Mussolini 's Fascists were defeated as the main threats to world peace . Say what you want about Stalin; , what the German dictatorship had in store for the Slavic Eastern' inferior' peoples was.....extinction.
@@BUSTER.BRATAMUS the key is that those millions would *actually live* under Stalin, as opposed to die under a victorious Nazi regime - on top of those already killed under Stalin.
@@deforged your ignorance is stunning,, Stalin and the blood thirsty Commies, killed as many if not more than Hitler..
@@deforged My Estonian granduncles died in a gulag thanks to the soviets invading Estonia and deporting people by cattle cars. Soviets killed way more people than Nazis ever did yet are celebrated in the west.
These Pilots deserve to be remembered.
I hope that these brave women are never forgotten for what they achieved.
*But DO YOU BeLieve in GOD!!!!???*
First I heard of the story but I hope these women are not forgotten .
@@activatefiasco5843 Get out of here
@@DutchmanAmsterdam*
@@DutchmanAmsterdam*
Although I've studied WWII history and had heard of the famous "Night Witches", I had never heard their story and assumed that they flew YAK fighters. Flying WWI type bi-planes took extreme courage, given the types of advanced aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Excellent presentation. Thanks....
Yak-1 fighters were used in another, 586th female regiment. Also there was 587th reg. of dive bombers on Pe-2. And “night witches” Po-2 588th was third female regiment in Red army
I'd honestly never heard about these brave women before today. Thanks for posting!
I really recommend the wonderful historic novel “The Huntress” by Kate Quinn, a real good thriller of a tale.
What a fantastic story. Russia should be proud of its female pilot hero's.
We are.
What s famous story of Russian brave woman , and should never be forgotten ever ,a very impressive group of folks , the Russian people , bless them !
Not only females, but every unnamed and named soviet hero who gave their lifes to Lebensraum never happens
The reason Russia is undefeatable since Peter the Great. Their comes the Mongols, Huns, the Seljuk Turks, then Ottoman Empire, came next French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte with 600,000 men Grand Army from 20 nations that captured Moscow in 1812 and followed by Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hitler 3. 8million men Operation Barbarossa' supported by four thousand tanks and thousands aircraft that swarmed east. These invading armies in millions combined were defeated one after another by the Russians. No army in history that remain combat ready, it's history glorious and fighting spirit intact. The Russian Army cannot be defeated by the US-led West.
@lMrRedl The video is about female pilot fighters, not a documentary of the whole Soviet army.
I can almost feel the Sabaton song of *"Night Witches"* pumping spirits into everyone's veins especially mine.
that was first thing to my mind
I love that song, of course I'm a (American) military brat of more generation than I can imagine, a history geek, part of the age of heavy metal, and more than a little obsessive - compulsive about details. From the depths of hell in silence cast explosive spells in violence Russian night time flight perfected flawless vision undetected . I'd go on but voice to text is making me do it one word at a time.
From the depths of hell in silence.
cast their spells, explosive violence. Russian night time, flight perfected. Flawless vision, undetected
@@jurrehuizinga7136music is 🇷🇺life. We don’t listen to music, we hear and feel it. Now go turn it up again
I listened to the song, just before I saw this story. 💙🔥
This is an interesting bit of history. These women were some brave heroes! Hats off to the “Night Witches!”
@Andrew Phillips It is grammatically appropriate to use either “hero” or “heroine” in reference to a female.
Actually, their entire bodies were brave, not just their donkeys.
The writer who adds burros to his sentences didn't need to spend extra typing time, even if he is too embarrassed to just say brave.
@@briseboy
There George, I edited the ass out just for you.
A worthy channel...
A worthy topic...
Thank you.
Those girls were amazing and they have my undying love and respect.
When I first heard about them I was awestruck , and even now I like to watch everything about them. Back then people did amazing things in perilous times.
14:21 Note - some girls wear skirts. This is also for a reason. In those days, in the Red Army, girls were often punished for misdemeanors by flogging with salted rods on the ass and thighs. And after the spanking, it was easier for the girls to walk in a skirt. In addition, girls sometimes needed to relieve the accumulated sexual tension. Therefore, the girls could also be whipped on the ass and thighs to reduce tension.
What an awesome group of women who came to the aid of their country during these trying times. I salute their courage, honor and loyalty to their fellow flyers, country and the Allied fight against the terror that was the fascist Axis powers. Respect to them all from the USA!!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 🇺🇲
Thank you very much!
Russian women are beautiful, smart and strong. I know. I've been married to one of them for over 20 years..
Italy was fascist, please get it right.
My wife, a Girl Guide leader here in Australia had only told me of these amazing women the other day. The story she has is that the planes were loud and unreliable so they would have to turn the engines off, glide in for the attack, then climb out on the wing and restart them and fly back to base.
Eva way, amazing women and an amazing story. Thank you for sharing.
The Po-2 isn't especially noisy (you can check the engine sound here: th-cam.com/video/blnn0ZyqGQ4/w-d-xo.html), at least not compared to a Thunderbolt or a Mustang - those planes _roar_ whereas the Po-2 goes "put-put-put-put". I've seen and heard a Mustang, a Spit, and a 109 fly over low in formation, and the only one I could hear was the Mustang, the engine sound of the two others simply drowned. The reason the Night Witches idled their engines on approach was not to give the Germans time to get in cover or man their AA guns, which just adds to the devastating psychological effect of only realizing they were under attack when the high explosives started raining from the night sky. Badass chicks the lot of them.
@@mace8873 Thanks for replying. It’s a beautiful and simple plane. Even though the exhaust pipes and he seem to be a foot long straight out of the engine, it is fairly quiet. I would imagine to start it you would have to be standing in front of the plane and turn the propeller?
@@lukeshirley8496 As far as I'm aware, yes.
I have never seen evidence that they climbed on the wing to restart the engine. I know this story is making the rounds, but look at a picture of the plane and imagine doing that from the rear. Look how far back the wing is. You would have to leave the wing entirely, somehow hang on with one hand, stick your other hand through the cylinders and try to turn the prop. With one hand. From the rear. Near the center of the hub. Which would be difficult to turn even at the prop tip, standing on solid ground from the front. This is completely disregarind that the airstream would turn the prop anyway which would make the whole thing futile. This is just not possible. There are accounts of them going on the wings to release stuck bomblocks. But starting the engine? There is no way to do that from the rear.
That sounds incredible, physically impossible, but what a story. I'm not doubting she said it and perhaps believes it. When I was in the navy I heard all kinds of things teams like mine could do, fewer were true than not, on the other hand we didn't say we couldn't.
I'd like to add my own thanks and respect to these heroic ladies who so valiantly fought and died for their country. They are an inspiration for every woman in every country in the world. Anyone who doubts that women can fight needs to know about story of the Night Witches of the USSR.
Women shouldn't fight unless absolutely necessary. Having said that, they should also learn war techniques in case they need to defend themselves.
What people need to realize is if not for the men, the women could not bring victory. Nevertheless, the Soviet army lost far more casualties than they should have.
I'm not against women being in the army, don't get me wrong. In fact, it's quite important. And yes, sometimes they have to fight for example when they are getting attacked by the enemy. Of course women soldiers can kill men solddiers there's no doubt about that. But the risks are too high.
1. Women are physically weaker than men, therefore their endurance is not as strong. This also means their emotional nature is weaker in many aspects, and also they don't have the right physical makeup for fighting.
2. If women soldiers are caught, the potential for them to be raped is very high, which is very Demoralising for the men.
3. If they are mixed, it can lead to a lot of affairs as did happen. A lot of the Soviet commanders had wives and Mystresses, those mystresses got abandened after the war mostly.
4. As happens in the American army, women could be sexually assaulted by their own officers, which is why women and men need to be segregated. .
Bottom line, there deffenitly should be a place for women in the army. But eeach gender is different.
It is the job of men to rule the country, to lead the nation to glory and victory. And it is the job of women to have kids and nurcher the upcoming generations. I'm not saying it's wrong for a woman to work or earn a living by any means, or be the head of a business. All I'm saying is, some things should be left specifically to men.
The USSR was evil, no one should admire or look up to it.
What wonderfully brave women! I had never heard of them until this video but applaud their bravery and patriotism. It must be remembered that at this time these women were our allies, we should have known more about them. What an inspiration to all women.
I was part of a group of women studying at Ruskin College, Oxford UK, the studies were titled: Women's Studies - but we were never taught about the bravery and heroism of the Russian Night Witches. Heroes every one!
My Grandfather was the 8th youngest son in the family, all 7 of his brothers died in Stalingrad, his father almost died of wounds during Königsberg offensive. My grandmother survived Soviet purges (her family was killed, survivors deported), worked in the ammunition factory during the war(she wasn't even an adult), survived german bombing god knows how many times. Those times were brutal from all perspectives imaginable, and i don't even know how they met!
I don't feel sorry for you.
There is a recent book “Call Sign White Lilly” which tells the tale of one of the most highly decorated of these women pilots. Fascinating and inspiring.
One small correction, these aren’t women, these are 20 year old girls. RIP and eternal glory to all of them
😂😂 You are a woman at 20 not a girl,
Whaaaat? 1008 missions in a bi-plane in WW2? Amazing.
Great video! The Night Witches, & other Russian female snipers & combatants of WWII, were amazing. It makes me wonder what could've been, had women from allied countries been placed in combat, Navy & Air Force roles. Females were pivotal in intelligence. Never underestimate the fighting spirit & strength of a woman!! Regards from the USA! 🦸🏻♀️🇺🇲💕🙏🏻
When your ENEMY gives you a name like that, you know they fear you…Die Nachthexe. Excellent presentation.
Learning about the Night Witches at 18, 19, significantly changed the very American story in my head about what happened in WW2. There are so many specific and important stories beyond the “nazis, pearl harbour, also Americans showed up and saved everyone” ones that are told over and over again in the US. An over- and often dishonest-simplification.
There’s a photo of a Night Witch repairing one of her plane’s wings while it’s flying, taken by her co-pilot standing even further out on the wing. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
Yep, it's definitely a dishonest over-simplification. Really more like just straight up dishonesty, heh. The USSR did the vast majority of the fighting, and they deserve the vast majority of the credit (if we wanna assign some rough number, probably like 80%+ of the credit). They also likely suffered the most losses and most destruction (given the fascists invaded them, of course), and the N@zis committed countless terrible atrocities against their people.
We must always remember the ~27 million Soviet people who lost their lives in the fight against fascism.
Those brave women deserve recognition!! ❤️
What about german women ?
@@nicktan4530 true, Sophie Scholl was executed at 14 for trying to stop the nazis, and i am sure many others worked against them as well, but for determination, courage, skill and effectiveness the Night Witches rank right up there with any combat unit in WWII.
On October 8th 1941, the 588th regiment was formed. An airforce regiment formed of Russian female volunteers, the Night Witches. October 8th is my birthday, and I am honoured to have been born on the anniversary of this legendary team of brave warriors.
Extraordinarily brave and heroic women. Incredible story.
Thank you.
I've been waiting to order this book 📚 now I really can't. I'm excited to read their stories
I don't believe the western allies had such an equivalent. A remarkable and uplifting story of determination and bravery.
That's because the west had more $$$ than eastern euro. Also the west still somewhat looked down upon women. Eastern euro used women into the army out of necessity.
@@brianticas9572 And let's not pretend Russia didn't mow down cities with rape and extermination camps.
They may not have been "combat" pilots, but the US had women test & transport pilots. They delivered aircraft to Asia over the Aleutians.
This is because Russia went through hell. It was the Russians who drove the Nazis away from Moscow and not from New York 😅
Какие же вы пустые... Для вас это очередной голливудский блогбастер. Советский союз потерял 26000000 человек. Не было семей в которых, хоть кто то не погиб в этой войне.
One of the most amazing stories I have ever heard. When people think of dying they think so negative but I think of meeting people like these woman and listening to there stories.
This was so interesting and very informative. I've never seen a video as detailed as this one about the Night Witches. Glad I'm subscribed, just LOVE 💗 learning new things and this channel never disappoints me 😊
God bless those women who risked their own lives in danger for the mother land. Frankie t, Bronx County.
Correct this is a detailed video about the night witches. And the detailed song about them is from Sabaton! Sabaton rules! 🤟🤟🤟
First history is good it needs to be remembered
Flying at night in those planes without today’s proper instruments terrifies me.
WOW NEVER HEARD OF THESE BRAVE WOMEN UNTILL NOW!! HEARD OF AMELIA...BUT NOT THE OTHERS .THANK YOU FOR THIS VERY INTERESTING PART OF HISTORY. BLESS THESE WOMEN.🙂👍❤🙏
I recently read an historical novel about the Nachthexen (Night Witches): The Huntress, by Kate Quinn, and I enjoyed learning more about these dedicated and courageous women from this excellent video. If you enjoyed this video, I highly recommend the book.
These women were absolutedly brilliant they should never, ever be forgotten for their amazing bravery, valour and fighting spirit, what they achieved as individuals and a squadron was incredible they are so unique Russia should be so proud of them their should be a massive and wonderful monument in Moscow to bravery to their mother country so the young people of today can appreciate how great they were they deserve every honour this programme moved me so much and I am English born and bred THANK YOU SO MUCH THE NIGHT WITCHES.
These women were some of the bravest women in the war , young ladies in a time growing up in a war doing something that was never done that way before and doing so much so brave , ❤️❤️❤️
Not women. But bravest soldiers, period. They were basically sent on a suicide mission, and ended up being some of their best soldiers, fighting against both their side and the opposition. Their male soldiers at least were supported and given functional machinery.
14:21 Note - some girls wear skirts. This is also for a reason. In those days, in the Red Army, girls were often punished for misdemeanors by flogging with salted rods on the ass and thighs. And after the spanking, it was easier for the girls to walk in a skirt. In addition, girls sometimes needed to relieve the accumulated sexual tension. Therefore, the girls could also be whipped on the ass and thighs to reduce tension.
The more i think i know about military history, the more i realise how very little i actually do know.
What an absolutely bloody amazing story.
Just like Maggie Thatcher being called the "iron Lady" to belittle her, the name emboldened her and she embraced it.
Rest in peace heroes, you have won a place in my heart right next to the glorious Anzacs that gave birth to my beautiful country Australia.
Every single part of this story says Hero!
The difference is Thatcher fought for evil and oppression while these fought for liberation and justice…
Never heard of these amazing women until now what bravery and patriotism ,worthy of world wide recognition .incredible
What an incredible page of history these extra ordinary women wrote .
Tinged with sadness in that they did not receive their full recognition .
The constant fear and adrenaline burns at your spirit and leaves you shaking and fragile
Well, that's not melodramatic. They did their job.
Same thing happened to the WASPs of the USA. Just glad they all got recognized in the end
Respect. Glad to see they're getting the recognition they deserve.
I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I was unfamiliar with the story of the Night Witches. Thank you for telling their story! It was incredibly informative! Well done!
бывшим советским солдатам, они так многим пожертвовали. Любовь из Канады.
Now Russia is shit
Спасибо Вам
You guys are great! Always learning something new and interesting!
This was quite an interesting part of WW II. They flew at night in old airplanes, that were barely held together with wire. The Night Witches were deadly.
Very interesting indeed! 👏
When life had true purpose
A great historic movie is “The Huntress” by Kate Quinn, a wonderful story basest s women A really good thriller of a tale.
Courageous fine young Ladies, God Bless them all
Well done and thank you 💃🛩️💃🛩️💃🛩️💃
A wonderfully moving story and beautiful narration. Absolutely brilliantly well done!
These incredible women not only have to fight the foreign enemy, but the enemy within as well, in order to survive these amazing women had to have the double amount of courage and stamina of their male counterparts, they deserve a much bigger recognition and homage for their incredible valour. Seen this made me quite emotional.
The band Sabaton wrote a song about them called “Night Witches” from the Heroes album, that is how I learned about them. If you love history about war, please check out SABATON, all of their music is about war history.
www.sabaton.net/
And their drummer married to Floor Jansen of Nightwish! Lucky guy...
SABATON
The Sabaton song is awesome. I'm reading a book called "Daughters of the Night Sky" about the Night Witches.
Thats the song that git me hooked on sabaton
In war there are no men and women, there are Soldiers and Warriors.
It was great to learn of the heroism and dedication of the Soviet women during WW2
WOW!! THE "NIGHT WITCHES" were something else. I know Stalin was no sweetheart or well liked person but i would give him props on letting ladies in the military. As a USAF (mechanic) these ladies laid down some serious history for other ladies who wished to fly in the military.
R.I.P. NIGHT WICHES!
Such an extraordinary group of women. God bless them and their courage. They were true heros.
Definitely one of my favorite stories. One of my students wrote an awesome comic book as part of her project in my class.
Wow! Just before I’d scrolled to your comment I was thinking this would make a great War Stories comic.
Wow, this is so fascinating!
Today’s generation of girls need to learn from these hero’s rather then looking up to pop singers who contribute nothing to society, it’s always an eye opening experience, listening on how women were treated from history, what they had to endure and how this holds up in today’s day and age.
This video subject is very intriguing and I would love to read more on these type of storylines.
Anyone got any suggestions on any books on lesser known real life World War II experiences?
Try this one, there were some 2500 Soviet female snipers who fought on the front; estimates as high as 11,000 Wehrmacht infantry fell to their cunning and marksmenship
Lyudmila Pavlichenko - the extraordinary sniper / Red Army female sniper (Biographics)
th-cam.com/video/DjHkik2cYMQ/w-d-xo.html
Agree 100%!
Amen 🙏
That was a great generation of our grandparents
WWII? Not as much, most come from Europe, Julia Childe was OSS, Josephine Baker aided the French resistance and allies, there's several about women in WWI & II, but why stop there? There's Tamoe Gozen 11th century ona bushida (think samurai), Lozen a chiricahua Apache who was one of geronimo's most trusted advisors there are pictures of her, a lot of female pirate captains - ok maybe not good role models for girls - and any number of female rulers in history; Boudicca leaps to mind, I mean if you piss off Roman Empire enough to want your head... Let me put it like this I would rather my thirteen-year-old daughter do a report Grace O'Malley for women's history than Taylor not so Swift
These ladies were incredible! Thank you for your service
Undetected, unexpected
Wings of glory
Tell their story
Aviation, deviation
Undetected
Stealth perfected
“From the depths of Hell in silence”
@@mozambiquehere5903 Cast their spells, explosive violence
@@ryantannar5301 *Russian night time, flight perfected*
Night bomber regiment...
@@MrKawika64 588th
I have never heard of the “ Night Witches. Their story is amazing.
What an incredible part of history. Every detail about these strong marvellous women has been so well put forward, making the reader an intimate part of the experience. Sad to hear, however, of the final treatment meted out to them. in Truth they ought to have been at the head of the celebrations post war.
Well done vid on this subject. I've seen many vids about the "night witches" and you have very good details and pictures. Very enjoyable to watch!
Extraordinary ! What resolve and tenacity. Thank you
i love your stories and i love the fact that that images you show to tell the story are actually showing what your talking about and not just random pictures that have nothing at all to do with anything , like on a lot of other story channels where the pictures are so vague as to why bother showing em at all
"Incredible Heroism of these great women, shall never be forgotten!"
@untilyougethit Simp? What is that?
Well? What's a simp? Oh. A sympathizer? Lol. Hmm. This was how long ago? Get a life. This isn't about symp. It's history. Idiot.
@untilyougethit and? Are you in England?
Don't forget.. They saved your English ass. As we did. Usa here.
@untilyougethit waiting for an answer. Anything you have to say?
Comntrary to ms Erhart colonel Roskova and female fighter aces of the Soviet Union were not for advertisment of `female power` as women in the West. THey were true heroes , defending their Motherland at all costs. They deserve to be praised and remembered forever.Brave, deadly , and fast they were horror to German soldiers. Never compare them to ms Erhart.It would be really underestimation and insult to them.Because they were never paid for their duty to Rodina nor thought they were special. They simply were soldiers.
Spot on with that.
What a strange and spiteful thing to write. These women deserved peace, not to be thrown in to that hell by USSR government, who helped start the war in the first place.
Thank you for telling these stories, I never heard of this till now.
What an inspiring documentary! I had never heard of them before. Thank you.
Thank you, I love the Night Witches! Shared.
I have followed the Night Witches Story in books and shows for years. There are some very good Russian TV series about them with Sub-Titles here on the Tube!
I've been watching the Russian series. It is exciting, well acted, and devoid of Soviet propaganda.
I believe that it was made after the fall of the USSR but with some of the pilots still around to tell the tale. By all means watch it.
The series is called Night Swallows but I found it here under Night Witches.
Well done. Thanks for doing it.
Thank you so much for this fantastic video!
Amazing Story of Hero..... I just stand steel from the begining till the end of story...
Salut for them ... Greetings from East Indonesia...
Truly amazing and inspiring, I’ve always had deep respect and admiration for women who refuse to believe they are less than men
Thank you for the wonderful documentary. Even though I studied about them a while ago,it’s still greatly appreciated.
What a great video!! Thank you!!
What a fabulous story and a great presentation as well. Thank you.
AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY👍❤❤👍
Fascinating story! Nice piece. These women were incredibly heroic, intelligent and resourceful. Truly inspirational.
I must echo Dennis's comment. Fantastic Documentary. The photographs used are amazing. Thanks
Never too old to learn and thanks to this wonderful documentary I have learned of these remarkable and exceptional women.
Thank you for such an informative video. Indeed the Night Witches need to be remembered - for their bravery, courage and heroism.
Outstanding production. Motivating and inspirational. Thank you!
Remarkable story.Thank you for Sharing.
Such courage snd sense of duty to country. Amazing story
Wow what a taught full documentary , really fascinating true story !!
Excellent,informative exciting,what a brave bunch of women.
Never heard this story.
Well worth a watch.
Thank you!
Very moving. Your work is admirable. Thank you.
When I was stationed in W. Germany in the 80s, one of my favorite things to do off duty was talk to Eastern Front veterans. Bring up the name Night Witches, and even the toughest of them would get a look of sheer, stark terror on his face. Some had seen their work first hand; others only heard stories. All were scared of them. Those ladies were no joke and have always had my respect. Credit given where credit is due.
This is, also, a time for such heroines and heroes!
Fascinating. Marvelous documentary on a subject I knew nothing about. Thank you!
Very interesting document. Thank You very much. 👍🌞
By comparison the crews in the American Eighth Air Force flew 25 missions (sorties) before they were rotated home. Many of the night witches flew 800+ sorties with numerous sorties in a single night.
In fairness, The American Eighth flew missions that were ten hours long and longer. Not many lived to reach 25 missions until the later part of the war.
8th USAAF flew daylite raids over well fortified positions.1/2 of 🇺🇸Army casualties were to 8th 🇺🇸AAF(ARMY!as in all the Army,which the AAF was an arm of),that being 47,000 w/26,000deaths).Mr.Winton was an elementary school teacher we had & he sported a strange scar around his mouth & nose.
It was where the oxygen mask froze to his face while @ operational altitude.He'd of probably said he was a lucky member of 🇺🇸AAF.It was years b4 it was revealed 2 me about what this injury was that he'd sustained.
This is a stupid comparison. The 588th could have up to 15 to 20 missions per night. Given that "night" is at most 15 hours, that means each sorting had a max turn around time of 1 hour. Refuel, rearm, get to target, return...repeat. At a max speed of 94 mph, that means a conservative max distance of no more than 30 miles from target. So, they flew at night, just above the tree tops, dropped (6) 50 pound bombs, could not be shot down by standard aircraft...etc etc etc. This led to 32 losses amongst the units several hundred total members...over 28,000 missions. Great, they did the job they were assigned. And, let's remember that they were quite literally defending their homes from invasion...so flying till you die is your only real option. As an aside, this would not have been necessary if Stalin had not exacted a purge of the military
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge#
The US 8th...which was originally the VIII Bomber Command. Was required to fly unescorted missions into occupied territory and Germany itself to carry out night strategic bombing raids against war material manufacturing plants and supply depots. The life expectancy of the crews was 8 missions in 1942 and rose to 12 missions by 1944 because fighter range had improved sufficiently to allow for escorted missions. As opposed to the 3000 tons of bombs dropped in 28,000 missions...less than 250 pounds per mission...the 8th dropped 625,000 tons of bombs deep inside occupied and heavily fortified Europe with missions requiring up to 10 hours of travel...7 of which were under continual ground fire and fighter attack. One quarter of all US air losses (115,000) were from the 8th because of the demanding mission they were given...that is to destroy Germanys capacity to wage the war. The 25 mission rotation was a goal to motivate the crews given that it was unlikely that most would live through 12. And, rotation back home did not remove them from service...it meant they were given other assignments. Often, men with technical education were sent to factories that built the aircraft as engineers and designers because of their intimate knowledge of field operations with the craft. Many crews signed up for another 25 in Europe or were rotated to the Pacific Theater.
If you want to make smug comments, you should really have an understanding of the topic and maybe some military experience.
Outstanding review of this unit and several key members.! Bravo.
Very well presented ! thank you very much. what tenacity those woman showed .
Great war adventure story! My greatest respect to these young, brave and skilful women that foght for their country. And thank you WarsofThe World for relating it in this video. Well done!
Good video -
Had to roll my eyes a bit at 21:52 when they seemed to suggest that the Germans used Me 262 jets to intercept a 90 mph Polikarpov Po-2 biplane.
God bless all these brave women.
🦋🌹🙏🌹🦋
Well done, thanks for sharing this piece of history with us! Very informative.
Thank You For Sharing ❤️